


Life is Just a Party and Parties Aren't Meant to Last

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: SPN AU Bingo [46]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Discussions of What Counts as a Weird Family Relationship, M/M, Mischief, Mischief!Gabriel, Past Infidelity, Tattoo artist!Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 20:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18880276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Dean gets asked to tattoo his little brother's name on some guy.  Turns out, it actually is his little brother's name, because his little brother's gonna marry the guy's nephew.





	Life is Just a Party and Parties Aren't Meant to Last

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Debriel Creations Challenge, Round 3  
> Prompt: Tattoo Shop AU
> 
> Written for Dean Winchester Bingo  
> Square: Tattoo
> 
> Written for Gabriel Bingo  
> Square: Vacation
> 
> Written for SPN AU Bingo  
> Square: Single Parent!AU

Dean was supposed to be on break, but something about the guy who had just walked in convinced him to get up and go deal with him. He couldn’t put his finger on why, exactly, he was drawn to the guy. Good-looking, in a kind of goofy down-to-Earth way, but not the type Dean usually went for. Maybe it was the jacket. Obviously high-quality, probably a designer label… but so well-worn that Dean couldn’t imagine the guy was a snob. “What can I do for you, dude?”

“First, quick question: how old do you have to be to get a tattoo, if a parent signs off on it?”

Dean’s eyebrow shot up. This guy was obviously old enough, and he didn’t have a kid with him. Which might show foresight, really. “Eighteen, unless you wanna drive to Nevada. Even with parent permission it’s illegal to tattoo a minor in California.”

“Dang. Okay. Guess I’m taking Jane to Nevada, she’s only seventeen.” Dean’s respect for the guy shot up. Not to another tattoo parlor where he hadn’t asked and therefore they wouldn’t be looking extra carefully at an ID, but to Nevada. “Next question, do you take foreign IDs as proof of age?”

“Depends on the ID. Passport’s good as long as I can figure out what the date of birth is with Google Translate, but a fishing license isn’t because I’m not spending the time on Google to figure out what it’s supposed to look like. Dunno what you’d need in Nevada.”

“I’ll call ahead and figure it out. Hate to drive all the way out there for no reason. While I’m here, though, I’d like to make an appointment to get a tattoo for myself.”

“What do you have in mind? If you know what you want and it’s not too big or complicated, I can do it now, don’t have anything scheduled this afternoon.”

“Oh, this shouldn’t take too long. Won’t exactly be a stretch of your skills, either.” The client took off his jacket and turned around to pull up the white T-shirt, revealing a really impressive-looking tattoo of wings on his back. When he took a closer look, he realized the wings were made up of names. “I wanna get Sam added to this. Three letters, solid color, unless you decide to go right on the spine I’m not worried about needing to take breaks.”

“Oh, sure, I should be able to do that today. The different fonts mean anything?”

“Nope. Just different artists, different times they were added, what the artist thought looked best. Do whatever you think looks best.” He let his shirt drop back into place, picking up his jacket to fish out his ID. “Deposit needed?”

“Nah, not if we’re doing this today.” Dean took the passport that – Gabriel, it said – held out to him. No problem figuring out the date of birth, it was in English. “Elysia, huh? Enjoying California?”

“More than back home, really. Less fighting when it’s just me and my kid. A lot less sermonizing from my jerk of a big brother because my ex-wife decided to take off and go back home. He blames me entirely for it, even the parts that aren’t my fault. Like her refusing to take the kids.”

“So who’s Sam? New wife?” Not that it was any of Dean’s business. Probably wrong anyway, there were way too many names on Gabriel’s back to all be ex-wives or husbands, even if you included ex-lovers he hadn’t married, unless he counted one-night stands.

“Nah. Not really looking for one of those.” Gabriel put his passport away and followed Dean to the workspace. “Everyone on there is – or was – a family member. If there’s room, I’d like to get it close to Castiel’s name, but if not that’s fine. One of these days, Cassie’s gonna marry Sam. Probably not for a while, but his birthday’s coming up soon and the whole family’s coming out from Elysia to celebrate, so I’m thinking an engagement might not be too much longer.”

“You’re getting a tattoo before Sam gets a ring?” Dean bit his tongue as soon as it was out. “Sorry, man, not judging you. Just surprised is all.”

“Hey, you would too if you saw them together. Even without a ring, Sam is Cassie’s partner, that’s not gonna go away if I’m wrong and they never do get married. Sam’s family, so he gets added to the tattoo.”

“Fair enough.” Something was bothering him as he set up the tattoo, and he nearly dropped his gun when he made the connection. “You know, this may be a weird-ass coincidence, but my little brother Sam’s living with a guy from Elysia named Cas Rogers. Any chance Sam’s just never told me Cas’s real full name?”

“Oh, a very good one. Cas keeps a lot of secrets, and Sam’s a good guy, he’s not gonna go spilling them to anyone else without Cas’s permission. I know he’s told Sam his actual real name, but probably not anyone else here. Your brother – tall, nice hair, good artist as long as no one asks him to draw?”

“Yeah, that’s Sammy.” Dean shook his head. Weird. He’d have to get hold of Sam later to get an explanation. Sam never kept secrets from him before. “So how’s Cas related to you? Because you’re right, it’s not gonna be much longer before I declare Cas my brother-in-law even if they don’t do anything to make it official.”

“He’s my nephew. Judgmental jerk brother’s kid. Thankfully, Cassie doesn’t take after him much.” Gabriel paused. “Doesn’t much take after his mother, either. No idea how he turned out so well, really. He’s one of the best of us.”

Dean frowned as he studied the wings, looking for Castiel. Gabriel’s passport hadn’t said Rogers. He didn’t like the thought that Cas was using a fake name. What was he hiding? Then his eyes caught on the crown at the top of the design. The crown with the name Angelosi on it, matching the name that was on Gabriel’s passport. The one that Dean now remembered from the research he’d done on Elysia when Sam started dating Cas. The name of the royal family. “Wait one minute. Are you seriously telling me my brother’s dating a prince?”

“And you’re about to tattoo one.” Gabriel winked at him and waited. “Cassie’s worried about having to choose between Sam and Elysia. Pretty sure he knows he’d pick Sam if he had to. Between that and not wanting to be treated differently, he doesn’t tell people.”

“Then why’d you tell me? Shouldn’t I have heard this from Sammy, or Cas, when they were ready to tell me?”

Another wink from Gabriel. “See, he’s worried that when his secrets get out, he’ll lose something important to him. I know you’re protective of your little brother. You find out Cassie’s a prince and he’s been keeping it secret all this time, wouldn’t you do something about it? Cassie can’t lose Sam, and making Sam lose you would be almost as bad. Maybe you go through the rest of your life and never find out, maybe they get around to telling you at some point, maybe you find out when you see something about their wedding on the news. Kinda figured this was the best chance at you knowing, so they don’t have anything hanging over their heads, without putting them through unnecessary drama. So, Cas is a prince, Sam’s known the truth for years, Cassie would choose Sam over Elysia if you forced him to pick one, our side’s not gonna do anything to make him choose. You gonna?”

Dean thought about that while he inked. He hated the thought that he’d been lied to so much for so long, but then – if he were a prince, would he want people to know? It’s not like Cas was lying to Sam, Gabriel made it sound like. That was the biggest thing. Sam knew, Sam was still talking long-term plans with Cas, Sam was happy. Cas loved Sam. Cas was about the only person Dean still trusted to look out for Sammy when he couldn’t do it himself. Unless he found out that Sam didn’t actually know anything, this didn’t change much. “Guess not. Sam’s happy. Not gonna cause problems for him and Cas.”

 

A couple days later, Gabriel came back first thing in the morning, this time with a young woman in tow. Jane, Dean assumed. The seventeen-year-old Gabriel was willing to let get a tattoo. “Heya, Dean! You hear the big news from last night?”

“You mean the thing Sammy woke me up at two in the morning to tell me, where he and Cas are engaged? That thing? The thing where I made Sammy promise not to start thinking he’s too good for me because he’s marrying a prince and he promised and I threw you under the bus when he asked how I knew?”

“Yeah, that thing, no wonder Castiel sent me a bunch of pictures of horses’ heads this morning.” Gabriel popped out his lollipop. “So Jane thinks…”

Dean rolled his eyes. Seriously? “Sorry, kiddo. My brother’s the one marrying the prince, not me, I can’t afford the fine for tattooing a minor. Extended family or not, princess or not, you still gotta go to Nevada.”

“If it’s just a fine? I’ll pay you double whatever it is you’d have to give the state of California. If there’s more to it, increased scrutiny from the cops or whatever, then we’re headed for Nevada later this week. Got an appointment set up for Friday. That’s not what Jane’s thinking, Deano.”

Jane crossed her arms, glaring at Dean. “Dad wants you to come with us. I think it’s weird, since you’re gonna be family soon.”

“Huh? Why would that be weird…?” Okay, nephew-in-law’s brother wasn’t exactly the first person Dean would think to invite on vacation with him, but he didn’t see where the weird was coming from.

“Because you’re gonna be family! It’s weird watching my dad hit on my cousin-in-law!” Jane paused. “…’s brother. Be a hell of a lot weirder if he were hitting on Sam.”

“Oh, come on, I wouldn’t do that,” Gabriel protested.

Jane raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? So Mom running off and not even inviting me to go with her was…”

“I wouldn’t do that _to Cassie_.”

“Wait, huh? Thought you weren’t looking for something like that,” Dean said.

“Not looking for a new wife. And before you go thinking it, it’s not because I want a husband this time around. It’s because I’m a massive slut. Me and a committed relationship? Bad idea. Hooking up for a weekend? That I can do. Gladly.” Gabriel popped his lollipop back in his mouth. “Also, last night, Sam said something about keeping the two of us away from each other. Thought it might be fun to make his head explode.”

Magic words, there. Messing with Sam was one of the few things that sounded better to Dean than a no-strings-attached fun and sex-filled weekend in Nevada with a hot guy. “Sounds good to me. And yeah, not that weird, Jane. Hell, I read a thing online from a mom who was confused that her kids were mad at her for banging their older half-brother after their dad died. Now that, that’s weird.”

“Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.” Jane flounced out to the car, leaving Dean grinning.

“So you’ll come?”

“Let me just check to make sure I don’t have anything I can’t reschedule on Friday. Need to be back Monday morning, major appointment, but Friday’s usually reserved for walk-ins. Like you a couple days ago.” There wasn't anything. "Great. Party time this weekend."


End file.
